Advocacy in Action: Advocacy Reimagined

​​Provided by Jason Stverak, DCUC Chief Advocacy Officer

DCUC is already making strides in reimagining its advocacy to meet the changing and growing needs of all credit unions serving our Nation’s military and veterans. We are actively engaging with our entire membership, as well as joint trade leagues, ensuring the defense credit union movement is heard loud and clear. DCUC remains committed to ensuring the financial needs of our Nation’s military and veterans are protected and served at the local, state, and federal levels.

Recent Action…

• DCUC sent a letter to The Honorable Richard Blumenthal, Chairman, and The Honorable Ron Johnson, Ranking Member, of the HSGAC Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations ahead of the hearing titled: Fraud Alert: Shedding Light on Zelle:

• DCUC’s letter shared how credit union members, especially those that are military, veterans, and family members of the armed forces, rely on services such as Zelle to make payments and move funds securely from their credit union accounts to other businesses and people.

• DCUC sent a letter to the Honorable Sherrod C. Brown, Chairman, and the Honorable Tim E. Scott, Ranking Member, of the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, U.S. Senate:

• DCUC provided its response to the committee hearing on “Consumer Protection: Examining Fees in Financial Services and Rental Housing,” supporting credit union industry counterparts’ concerns regarding “government overreach in determining fees at individual credit unions.”

• DCUC sent a letter to The Honorable Patrick McHenry, Chairman, and The Honorable Maxine Waters, Ranking Member, of the Committee on Financial Services, United States House of Representatives, and a letter to the Honorable Sherrod C. Brown, Chairman, and the Honorable Tim E. Scott, Ranking Member, of the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, U.S. Senate.

• In both letters, DCUC provided its stance ahead of the committee hearing on “Oversight of Prudential Regulators.” DCUC emphasized its concern when consumers, especially young, enlisted service members, and veterans, are subjected to unfair and deceptive trade practices; DCUC also noted the intended and unintended restrictions the CFPB’s proposed new rule would put in place and the adverse impacts it would bring to these important communities.

• DCUC continued to emphasize the importance of the Veteran Member Business Loan exemption


Happening Now…

• DCUC is continuing to lobby against the passage of Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) in all “must pass legislation” in both houses of Congress

• DCUC continued its strong opposition of proposed legislation to amend the 2025 NDAA: Overseas Military Banking Program, 32 CFR Part 230.4 “One Bank & One Credit Union”

• DCUC sent two letters ahead of both the House and Senate’s markups of 2025 NDAA: proposed amendment would call for changes to FCUA: poses great risk to CU Tax Exemptions, industry-wide ramifications

• Military Banking Program Improvement Act of 2024: DCUC continues to meet with members of Congress; proposed legislation is gaining support and being well-received


Looking Ahead…

• DCUC is leading the opposition to Senator Elizabeth Warren’s American Housing and Economic Mobility Act of 2024 which is expected to be introduced before the 4th of July.

• Section 204 of the bill would impose CRA requirements on Credit Unions with greater than 100,000 members. This would impose greater regulatory burdens on credit unions which is not acceptable.
• DCUC remains the only credit union trade association that has spoken our publicly against the bill. “Credit unions have an exemplary record of member service to stand on. This is why Congress has not seen fit to impose punitive CRA requirements on them, and there’s no reason to do so now," said Tony Hernandez, president and CEO of the Defense Credit Union Council. “The member-centric structure of credit unions is the right model to ensure that consumers are treated fairly.” Read more about DCUC’s stance featured on CUToday.com.